Olubunmi
Olubunmi is a Nigerian name meaning "gift from God".
Name Census estimates that about 49 living Americans carry the first name Olubunmi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Olubunmi today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Olubunmi births was 1981 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Olubunmi. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Olubunmi with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Olubunmi. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
49
~ 1 in 6,994,986 Americans
Peak year
1981
12 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
1997 SSA rank
#15,459
Tracked since 1977
Census
Olubunmi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 795 people with the first name Olubunmi, which placed it at #14,731 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#14,731
National first-name rank
People counted
795
795 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
96.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Olubunmi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Olubunmi is Black at 96.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.4%) and White (1.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Olubunmi described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Olubunmi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American96.7% · 769
- Two or more races1.4% · 11
- White1.1% · 9
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Olubunmi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Olubunmi from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 34 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Olubunmi by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Olubunmi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Olubunmi
The name Olubunmi originates from the Yoruba language, spoken by the Yoruba people of western Nigeria and surrounding regions. It is a compound word formed by the combination of two distinct words: "Olu" meaning "owner" or "lord," and "Bunmi" meaning "wealth" or "prosperity." Together, these elements create a name that translates to "the owner/lord of wealth" or "the owner/lord has brought prosperity."
The Yoruba people have a rich cultural heritage that dates back centuries, and their naming traditions often reflect their values, beliefs, and aspirations. The name Olubunmi likely emerged during the height of the Yoruba kingdoms and empires, which flourished between the 13th and 19th centuries.
While there are no definitive records of the name Olubunmi appearing in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is believed to have been used as a personal name among the Yoruba people for generations. The earliest documented examples of individuals bearing this name can be traced back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Olubunmi was Olubunmi Akintola, a Nigerian politician and government administrator who served as the premier of the Western Region of Nigeria from 1960 to 1962. Born in 1910, Akintola played a significant role in Nigeria's transition to independence and the subsequent political landscape of the country.
Another prominent individual with the name Olubunmi was Olubunmi Adewale, a Nigerian academic and linguist who made significant contributions to the study and promotion of the Yoruba language. Born in 1933, Adewale served as a professor at various universities in Nigeria and authored numerous publications on Yoruba linguistics and literature.
Olubunmi Buraimoh, born in 1945, was a Nigerian playwright and educator known for his works that explored themes of social justice and cultural identity. His plays, such as "The Wives' Revolt" and "Wanderers of the Wilderness," gained critical acclaim and were widely performed in Nigeria and beyond.
In the field of sports, Olubunmi Longe was a Nigerian sprinter who represented her country in international competitions during the 1990s. Born in 1973, Longe won multiple medals at the African Championships and participated in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
Olubunmi Adeyemi, born in 1977, is a contemporary Nigerian fashion designer and entrepreneur. Her eponymous fashion label, Olubunmi Adeyemi Couture, has gained recognition for its fusion of traditional African aesthetics with modern design elements, showcasing the vibrant cultural heritage of Nigeria on the global fashion stage.
It is important to note that while this report covers some notable individuals with the name Olubunmi, the name has been used by countless others throughout history, each with their own unique stories and contributions to their respective communities and societies.
People
Olubunmi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Olubunmi as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with O
Other first names starting with O with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Olubunmi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Olubunmi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 49 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Olubunmi going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 6,994,986 US residents.
Is Olubunmi a common name?
We classify Olubunmi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 54% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 52 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Olubunmi most popular?
The single biggest year for Olubunmi was 1981, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Olubunmi is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Olubunmi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 795 people with the name Olubunmi, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,731 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Olubunmi in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Olubunmi?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Olubunmi on both sides of the split. Of the 792 people counted with this name, 169 were male (21.3%) and 623 were female (78.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Olubunmi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Olubunmi is Black at 96.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.4%) and White (1.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Olubunmi most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Olubunmi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.7% (769 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Olubunmi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Olubunmi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Olubunmi in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Olubunmi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Olubunmi in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Olubunmi can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Olubunmi?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Olubunmi at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.